1933 essex terraplane. John Dillinger's favorite car

[FrankWest]

As ford collectors
what do you guys think of this car? Kind of boxey looking?
http://www.thomasironworks.com/Hudson/History.htm
Seems like it would be very hard to get parts for essex/Hudsons?

[John R]

Contact the Hudson, Essex Terraplane club for more info. https://www.hetclub.org/

[FrankWest]

I want to know what ford collectors think of essex/hudson cars.
I am sure the hudson collectors think they are the best.
Besides they won't answer any questions until I join their club.

[Zeke3]

I like Hudson cars up until about 1954. The styling of the 1933 Essex Terraplane is more boxy than Ford's of the same period, which could be interpreted to be more stately or elegant.

I visited the Hudson museum in Shipshewana, IN a few years ago and it was a great collection. Sadly, it was closed and the cars were auctioned off.

[FrankWest]

Good observation. Boxey does look more formal, less sporty. The 1933/34 ford design make it look like it is speeding even when standing still.

[Viv W]

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The Terraplanes were nice looking cars, but after rebuilding a 36 cabriolet, I don't ever want to work on another one. Semi finished pistons that you have to
have cam ground, then pegged piston rings, a fluid clutch and that semi electric gearbox. Also the one I did was a RHD car, so you could not get to the distributor very easily. One of the hardest cars I have ever worked on and finding spares is not easy.

[FrankWest]

WOW, good to know. Thank you so much for sharing.
When I was looking for a 1933 I found many Chevy's that looked almost like the ford but for half the price. I was tempted, but then realized the availability of parts ford ford and not chevy's and also heard that chevy's of that time frame had axles that often broke, such that collectors would trying to buy replacement axles just in cast. WE are so fortunate with the fords.

by the way, Didn\t often get to talk with someone from Zimbabwe, how are things there?

[petehoovie]

[ursus]

When I was in college back in the early '70s there was a fellow student with a '33 Essex Terraplane coupe that he had driven the 800 miles from his home in California. The car was completely original and handled the long drive without trouble. Having fiddled with the quirky Chevrolets of that era, I was amazed that such an exotic car could be somebody's daily driver. He parked it in the lot with all the student cars and treated it like any other old car. At the end of the year it went back to California and I never saw it again.

[Bulligen]

As hard as it is to compare, driving a 33 Essex in 1970 is like me driving my 1980 Dodge van now! There was a guy at my Jr college in 1972 that drove a 40 Merc coupe everyday and another that drove a 52 Cadillac his grandmother had given him.

[tubman]

A guy I went to college with in the very early sixties drove his '38 Chevrolet coupe to school. I rode with him alternate weeks and would drive my '52 Ford the in between weeks. It was about 40 miles round trip each day.

[FrankWest]

There are many interesting cars out there, but we are not all like Jay Leno that can just purchase everything we like. Most of us are lucky enough to be able to own ONE antique car.

[Emmit51]

I'm a bit younger, but my 51 ford was my daily driver to college in the 80s. Got a lot of attention, also by campus police who took offense to the blue dot taillights. I had a set of regular red lenses I'd swap in to take care of the fix-it tickets.

[mhsprecher]

When I was in college in the early 70's a guy drove his Model A pickup as his DD. My DD in those days was a 56 Chevy. Older than what most folks had, but was okay for me. At around the same time I took it half way across the country. No problems except for my butt, which was very sore from that darned seat.

[Marvin/TN]

It was an Essex model Terraplane for 32 and 33, in 34 it became just Terraplane and went out of production in 1937. After 37 Hudson took what remaining parts and designed a 38 Hudson. I did a 1937 Utitily sedan Terraplane for a customer. It was was one of 10 known to exist and only one of 6 that was driveable. So they are pretty rare and I am sure the
parts are as well. But they make a neat looking car when finished.

[tubman]

Two things that come to mind whenever Terraplanes are mentioned. The first is that they were also the favorite car of Amelia Earhart, and second was their memorable sales slogan from 1933: "On the sea that's aquaplaning, in the air that's aeroplaning, but on the land, in the traffic, on the hills, hot diggity dog, THAT'S TERRAPLANING"

[FrankWest]

supposedly the 33 terraplane had very high HP 94 ratio to its weight. Maybe Dillinger thought this would give him a getaway advantage. He used it only once and it was shot up but he got away and dumpted it. They usually stole the cars for their bank jobs. Looked for 8 cylinder cars.

photo courtesy of http://www.thomasironworks.com/Hudson/History.htm[/url]

[petehoovie]

[FrankWest]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YXCjPgktQM

[rotorwrench]

The Essex/Terraplane was a lower cost line of cars for Hudson to sell. As such, they were a simpler car to manufacture than the Hudsons but used some of the higher end Hudson components. The Terraplane bodies were even used for pickups later on in the 30s. Eventually, Hudson dropped the line entirely but it really helped them survive the depression years. I liked the Terraplane pickups better than the cars.

The Hudson Hornets were really nice cars but they were starting to get outdated. The 1951 convertible was my favorite of all the Hudson cars.